After a year and a half of including a ‘pic of the week’ at the end of my weekly training summary, I’ve decided to let it stand as a post of its own.  I’m also implementing a rule that the Friday Foto needs to have been taken sometime in the last week.  No recycling.  I am doing this to keep me engaged in building my photography skills, and to make me work harder to get fresh shots.  Click here to see my previous Friday Foto posts.

I was driving home late one night last week when I spotted an intense storm going on to the east of where I live.  I had all of my camera gear in the car, so I decided to take a detour into Chatfield State Park and see if I could get some shots from up on the dam looking over the city.  I was up there for a little while when a park ranger drove by and asked me to leave.  Apparently the only allowed activities after 10pm are fishing and boating.  Bah.

I packed up and headed towards home, but the storm seemed to be getting more active so I set up in another location about a half mile from my house looking over my daughter’s elementary school.  It ended up being a more interesting setup than Chatfield, anyway.  I stayed there for about half an hour capturing some awesome cloud-to-cloud lightning activity in the distance.

Zap
6 frame composite, 10 second exposures

After a year and a half of including a ‘pic of the week’ at the end of my weekly training summary, I’ve decided to let it stand as a post of its own.  I’m also implementing a rule that the Friday Foto needs to have been taken sometime in the last week.  No recycling.  I am doing this to keep me engaged in building my photography skills, and to make me work harder to get fresh shots.  Click here to see my previous Friday Foto posts.

Roxborough State Park is on the small side for a state park, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in scenery.  The dramatic red rock formations are the highlight, rising like the spine of a prehistoric monster swimming beneath the earth’s crust.  Although the park is adjacent to a housing development and a golf course, it feels very remote and is noticeably quiet.  Horses and bikes are not allowed, this is a park for hiking with several trails of varying difficulty to choose from.  I run there fairly often, but it’s rare to spot another runner.

Wildlife is plentiful in the park.  There is a thriving deer population, and I have spotted two different black bears on two different evenings in just the past week.  Rattlesnakes are present, as well as raptors like owls, hawks, and Golden Eagles.

Roxborough in June
f/9, 55mm, 1/400 @ 100 ISO

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After a year and a half of including a ‘pic of the week’ at the end of my weekly training summary, I’ve decided to let it stand as a post of its own.  I’m also implementing a rule that the Friday Foto needs to have been taken sometime in the last week.  No recycling.  I am doing this to keep me engaged in building my photography skills, and to make me work harder to get fresh shots.  Click here to see my previous Friday Foto posts.

The high mountains of Colorado are a thunderstorm nursery.  Like the laboratory of a mad scientist, elements are combined and incubated until a monster is born.  In a routine that plays itself out almost every summer day, the monster – lurching along at first – gathers its strength and glides like a shadow out onto the plains.  Demonstrating domination over the land with lightning bolts, thunder, darkness, wind, rain, and hail.

We were fortunate to be observing this monster from a distance last Saturday.  Had we been a couple of miles further south, our enjoyable day together hiking Mt. Bierstadt would have been remembered for much different reasons.  This storm went on to rip the roofs off houses, snap power poles, and destroy the canopy over the pumps at a gas station.

Frankenstorm
f/9, 55mm, 1/400 @ 100 ISO